The 8800 and 8900 are the same radio with the same memory management system. The 8900 memory system is a little more complicated by the addition of the two bands. The programming software eases the discomfort a good bit.

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I have both the 8800 and the 8900 here. They are NOT the same memory channel mangement at all, At lease when programming by hand. The fine 8800 actually operates as two radios in one box. Simple as that. Program what you want to either side of the radio. The 8900 however, What ever you program into the LEFT side of the radio also gets programmed to the RIGHT side of the radio. Then you have to jump through all kinds of hoops to make the two sides of the radio operate as separate radios, Unlike the 8800.

I have programmed many 8800's and they all work the same. I have done only a few 8900's but they also acted the same, One "bubble" memory that put eveything into both sides at once. So I doubt I have a "bad" or different 8900.Yaesu ads claim they operate the same. They do NOT.

Back before I upgraded to general I bought an FT-897d for the all mode VHF and UHF, and did a lot of listening to the HF bands and used it as a general coverage receiver. Kind of expensive for SWL when you consider you can get a radio at a drug store for $25, but it did inspire me to upgrade.

What I'd like to see is a companion receiver for split band operation. something the size of an FT-817 that could track the tuning dial on the 897 for use with satellites or contesting. The dual-vfo function on the 897 doesn't really cut it for satellite use because they can't be locked together, and doesn't allow duplex operation.

I was a "2 meter tech" from 1978 to 2001, and in a week I upgraded from tech to general to extra. I currently run 2 ft 857 d's one in the car and 1 in the truck. mostly I use them in 2m/440 mode. in the car it is the 857 and a 900 mhz kenwood. In the truck I, a 2m, a 220, a tri bander 2m/440/1.2ghz and an 857d. In the shack I have an orion into an alpha 87 a, a ts 2000 into a tl922 and several 180 w to 400 watt uhf/vhf amps, a 746 pro with IC 2kl amp, a ft 847, and a ft990, among others, and several others in boxes. Now mostly in the vehicles I use the 2m and the 900 mhz stuff.

But if I only had one radio it would be an ft 857d, ( or an alinco dx 70 or a IC 706 m II G) new around 700 bucks and used in the $500 range. This will give you as a tech 10 m ssb, 40 and 80 cw, and psk 31, and 6m, 2m, 440 all mode . so a 2, 3 or4 bander will run almost as much as a 857d used, ( my tri bander 2m/440/ 1.2 g was $600 used) and if you use it ( ft 857) with an ATAS 120 you have an auto tune antenna that goes from 2m/440hz to 40 meters. so spend your money once

The 8800 and 8900 are the same radio with the same memory management system. The 8900 memory system is a little more complicated by the addition of the two bands. The programming software eases the discomfort a good bit.

I have both the 8800 and the 8900 here. They are NOT the same memory channel mangement at all, At lease when programming by hand. The fine 8800 actually operates as two radios in one box. Simple as that. Program what you want to either side of the radio. The 8900 however, What ever you program into the LEFT side of the radio also gets programmed to the RIGHT side of the radio. Then you have to jump through all kinds of hoops to make the two sides of the radio operate as separate radios, Unlike the 8800.

I have programmed many 8800's and they all work the same. I have done only a few 8900's but they also acted the same, One "bubble" memory that put eveything into both sides at once. So I doubt I have a "bad" or different 8900.Yaesu ads claim they operate the same. They do NOT.

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I can attest to the 8900 memory management being a disaster. Add to the poor memory management the fact that one side of the radio is 2/44/6/10 while the other side is 2/440 only and it can be confusing. That being said, it is also a good radio despite its shortcomings. 10fm can be a blast when the band is open. My first 10fm DX contact was the Canary islands last October with a Larsen nmo-27 whip and 50w. I worked Europe and South America from my office parking lot during lunch while the band was open. Do I wish I had an 857-d? Yeap.. but for half the price I'm ok with the 8900 limits and all.

The FT-857D, while a PITA to program on the fly (it's best to do all this at home, then take it mobile) actually does all this just fine.

It covers 10-6-2-70cm and does it reasonably well. There's virtually no extra cost to include 160 through 12m, since the only difference between those bands and 10m is the switchable low pass filters (a few bucks) and "software," which once written, is free.

The IC-7000 is a somewhat better rig that also does all that.

"I don't want or need the lower HF bands below 10m" is a fruitless argument, since it costs just about zero to include those bands...again, the only difference is some filters.

Think of this a nice base or base/mobile unit with 50mhz 144mhz and 440mhz, Since tech license is the first step once obtaining your ham license.

Btw yes I know 6m is HF I'm talking below 6m when I say no HF

There used to be several VHF/UHF all mode base rigs and a few that used modules to allow a wide ass't of freq coverage. They just didn't sell that many and so they were discontinued. I would suggest that along with the other rigs mentioned, check out the TS-2000 from Kenwood. Good rig for 6M and up and the /X model covers 1.2Ghz @ 10W.

Once you have 6M, it doesn't cost all that much more to add the HF bands (160M thru 10M). Mfgs generally build what they think they'll sell the most of. More bands and more bells and whistles sells more radios.

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